Looking to purchase a 1TB external hard drive

Hi! Now that the semester is finally over, I'm scrambling to get my Christmas shopping done - My dad hinted that he wants a 1TB external hard drive to use for storing photos, videos, music, etc. (he's a photographer)...he has an aluminum 20 inch iMac and told me that it would be "nice" if he could find one that matches his mac, so I was looking at purchasing something like the WD studio edition. I went to Best Buy and all they carried were the standard (black) 1TB drives for mac. I was looking on Amazon and found that they go for around $130 or so.

What do you guys think? What do you recommend as far as external hard drives - brands, models, features, etc. I don't mind spending a little more to get him something really nice (something with a brushed aluminum modern look to match his iMac). Any photographers or designers out there?

Hi! Now that the semester is finally over, I'm scrambling to get my Christmas shopping done - My dad hinted that he wants a 1TB external hard drive to use for storing photos, videos, music, etc. (he's a photographer)...he has an aluminum 20 inch iMac and told me that it would be "nice" if he could find one that matches his mac, so I was looking at purchasing something like the WD studio edition. I went to Best Buy and all they carried were the standard (black) 1TB drives for mac. I was looking on Amazon and found that they go for around $130 or so.

What do you guys think? What do you recommend as far as external hard drives - brands, models, features, etc. I don't mind spending a little more to get him something really nice (something with a brushed aluminum modern look to match his iMac). Any photographers or designers out there?

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Ok most of the pre-assembled external HDD's use crappy enclosures and are prone to failure so are not the best option unless it is only used as a backup drive. If you want a good media storage external you are best to buy a decent case and put a server grade drive in it. here are some good brand enclosures.

Ok most of the pre-assembled external HDD's use crappy enclosures and are prone to failure so are not the best option unless it is only used as a backup drive. If you want a good media storage external you are best to buy a decent case and put a server grade drive in it. here are some good brand enclosures.

That being said i have a WD My Book Studio Edition as my backup drive which i turn off unless backing up and it does the job fine.

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Thanks for your response! I would imagine he would be using the drive primarily as a backup to maintain a 'time machine' in case there was a situation where precious video (i.e. wedding photos, etc.) got misplaced or deleted. In other words, this drive would act as a catch-all so-to-speak for the more vulnerable material on his machine. I guess in his mind, he wants to maintain an electronic 'portfolio' of his work and he sees an external hard drive as the best way to do that. How do you like your WD My Book Studio Edition? Where did you purchase it if I may ask?

Thanks for your response! I would imagine he would be using the drive primarily as a backup to maintain a 'time machine' in case there was a situation where precious video (i.e. wedding photos, etc.) got misplaced or deleted. In other words, this drive would act as a catch-all so-to-speak for the more vulnerable material on his machine. I guess in his mind, he wants to maintain an electronic 'portfolio' of his work and he sees an external hard drive as the best way to do that. How do you like your WD My Book Studio Edition? Where did you purchase it if I may ask?

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No worry's mate. If its going to be used as a backup drive then the WD My Book Studio will work fine. I bought mine from Office Works here in Australia. It matches my 2008 I-Mac perfectly. Just make sure he unplugs it after he does each backup to extend the life of the drive and reduce chances of failure.

While designed to compliment the Mini, I think it would look good with an iMac too. Looks good with my MacBook. It is nice in that it has both firewire 400 and usb, with a 3 port usb hub built in. I used the firewire for the original backup, then switched to the usb.

torana, what's the capacity on this? Is it 1TB? I'm not sure what the difference is between an external hard drive and an "enclosure"...are they the same thing?

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...an external HDD is pre-built, an enclosure needs to have you add your own HDD to it... usually pre-built HDD's have shorter warranties and you can't open them yourself if something breaks due to a seal over the screws...

...an external HDD is pre-built, an enclosure needs to have you add your own HDD to it... usually pre-built HDD's have shorter warranties and you can't open them yourself if something breaks due to a seal over the screws...

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Thanks for the clarification! So, the enclosure that was recommended that costs $180 doesn't have a hard drive in it - it's basically just a case
Seems kind of expensive...maybe I better just stick with an external hard drive as planned.

And that $180 one does have a drive in it, but you can build your own, by buying their bare case ($90) and adding your own drive. But not worth it for what your dad needs, and thats completely getting off the subject of what you want to buy.

Im not necessarily advocating Seagate drives, (although they do have a nice 5 year warranty) -- those just happened to be two of the first deals I found. Whats nice about these Seagates, is that if they ever do fail, the drive and case are both made by Seagate, so they replace the whole thing. I like that.

Thanks for the clarification! So, the enclosure that was recommended that costs $180 doesn't have a hard drive in it - it's basically just a case
Seems kind of expensive...maybe I better just stick with an external hard drive as planned.

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Yes it is more expensive to buy a decent enclosure with a oxford chipset but these are far superior to the enclosures that come in the pre built externals like the WD My Studio. In the end you may pay $50 more but you will have a quality reliable external.

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